A 61-year-old man died after jumping off the Mumbai-bound Karnavati Express near Nadiad while chasing thieves who snatched his bag containing gold jewellery worth Rs 75 lakh. The incident took place on Wednesday morning.

According to a complaint registered with the police at Nadiad railway station,two persons  aged between 20 and 25 years  snatched Chhaganbhai Ravals bag and escaped after jumping off the train when it had just started moving after a brief halt at Silod village near Nadiad. A courier company employee,Raval,suffered severe injuries when he jumped after them. He succumbed to his injuries after being taken to a hospital in Nadiad. The incident took place at around 5.30 am at a spot barely 5 km from Nadiad between the Nadiad and Gothaj railway stations.

Raval,an employee of Ahmedabad-based courier company,Messrs Rajesh Arvindbhai,was carrying 12 boxes of gold jewellery collected from 12 different jewellers in Ahmedabad. He was travelling to Mumbai. The Karnavati Express stars at 4.30 am from Ahmedabad.

Officials of the Government Railway Police at Nadiad said that most trains passing the area usually halt at Silod because of a caution order regarding construction work on railway tracks.

The thieves seemed to have conducted a recce of the area. The train had stopped at Silod for 15 minutes. They snatched Ravals bag and jumped soon after the train started,so as to avoid being chased. Raval tried chasing them and jumped off the train,but by that time it had picked up speed, a GRP official said.

A co-passenger of Raval called up his son in Ahmedabad and informed him about the incident. A case was filed under sections 279 and 111 of the IPC,the police said.